Pop-top can re-sealer

ABSTRACT

A sealer for opened cans, particularly but not necessarily limited to beverage cans, of the pull tab opener type, characterized by its re-usability and economical manufacture. The elongated wedge shaped opening in the end cap of the can is tightly closed, a pivoted handle controlling a vertical spanner bar passing through a flat plate having a compressible sealing element on its underside and the handle has a cam with overcenter action to control a crosspiece inserted through the opening and turned crosswise by the handle.

United States Patent 11 1 Gregory 1 1 Apr. 17, 1973 1 1 POP-TOP CAN RE-SEALER [76] Inventor: Gerrett W. Gregory, 68 Casselman Place, Chula Vista, Calif. 92010 22 Filed: Feb. 22, 1972 211 Appl. No.: 227,931

[52] US. Cl ..220/25 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 45/00 [58] Field of Search ..220/25, 24 R, 24.5,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS De Pew ..220/25 Blechman ..220/25 FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 491,332 5/1919 France ..220/25 Primary Examiner-Samuel B. Rothberg Assistant Examiner-Allan N. Shoap Att0rneyR0y L. Knox 1 ABSTRACT A sealer for opened cans, particularly but not neces sarily limited to beverage cans, of the pull tab opener type, characterized by its re-usability and economical manufacture. The elongated wedge shaped opening in the end cap of the can is tightly closed, a pivoted handle controlling a vertical spanner bar passing through a flat plate having a compressible sealing element on its underside and the handle has a cam with overcenter action to control a crosspiece inserted through the opening and turned crosswise by the handle.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED APR 1 H975 2 4O 46 IO 38 Fig. 5

POP-TOP CAN RE-SEALER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A considerable number of devices for resealing opened containers have been developed and some have been produced. Most of the prior. art devices were developed for closure of one or more openings, usually rather small, and few have been developed or patented, which are particularly well suited for use on beverage cans employing pull tab openers which are characterized by relatively large and elongated openings. Before the advent of canned beverages the use of bottles as containers for both carbonated and uncarbonated beverages made it possible to use various types of reclosures without an internal holding or clamping means. The pull tab opening requires a resealing very closely adjacent to the edge of the can. It isalso obvious that resealing means must be capable of economical manufacture and re-use with or without intervening sterilization, and a tight sealing is mandatory if dust and other extraneous matter is to be positively excluded from the opened can and if undue escape of the usual carbonizing gas is to be prevented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION plastic, carrying a pad of compressible material, with means to clamp the same over the opening in a can top,

this means being a crosspiece insertable through the BRIEF DESCRIPTION OFTHE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the resealer;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation view as taken from left hand end of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view, on a reduced scale, of the resealer in full lines as initially placed on a can with the handle raised vertically and the crosspiece, shown in dash line, disposed longitudinally of the opening;

FIG. 4 is a view from the underside of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 5-- 5ofFIG.4;and I FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As illustrated, this item has four parts, namely, a pressure plate 10, a compressible pad or sealing element 12, a spanner bar 14 and a handle 16. A can top is fragmentarily indicated at 18, with an upraised rim 20 and an opening 22.

The pressure plate 10 will be shaped for general conformation with the shape of the opening 22 to be closed. Ordinarily this general shape is triangular with rounded corners as shown. The pad or resealing element 12 is of resilient, moisture proof material and is similarly shaped to fit within a depending skirt flange 24 on the periphery of the pressure plate 10.

Centrally of the plate 10 an aperture 26 is formed and an annular boss 28 forms a neck around the aperture 26 to reinforce the plate and to function as a camming surface for interaction with the confronting rails 30 and 32 which, with the tapered sides 34, define an enclosure for the trunnion-like enlargement 36 on the upper end of the spanner bar 14. The rails 30 extending generally longitudinally of the handle 16 are thicker than the rails 32 on the end of the handle, so that the trunnion-like enlargement 36 is raised slightly when the handle is movedfrom the vertical position, shown in dash line in FIG. '5 to the full line position shown in the same figure. This raising of the trunnionlike enlargement 36 can also be conceived as the depression of the plate 10 relative to the spanner bar 14.

At the lower end of the spanner bar and unitary therewith is a cross-piece 38 which has a length slightly greater than the width of the corresponding portion of the opening 22 in the top of the can to be closed. In terms of the item itself the length of the crosspiece 38 is comparable 'to the width of the adjacent midportion of the pressure plate 10. The crosspiece 38 has sharply bevelled upper surface portions 40 at the ends and is heavily ribbed as at 42 longitudinally of the crosspiece as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 6.

To maintain the integrity of the seal it is desirable that the shank portion of the spanner bar should fit tightly on the sealing pad or element 12 and this shank portion may be enlarged slightly as at 44 but the portion 46 of thespanner bar must of course be small enough to slide between the confronting rails 30 and In assembling the item, the spanner bar shank is passed through the sealing element 12 and the plate 10, and then the handle is pressed longitudinally onto the spanner bar, that is, the trunnion-like enlargement is forced to move into the box-like enclosure defined by the sides 34 and the rails 30 and 32.

In use, the handle 16 is raised vertically and turned as indicated in FIG. 3 so that the crosspiece extends longitudinally of the-plate 10, thus enabling insertion of the crosspiece into the opening 22 of the can top while the plate 10 covers the opening. The handle 16 is then rotated causing the crosspiece to engage the can at the edges of the opening 22 as indicated in FIGS. 4 and 6. Depression of the handle either outwardly or inwardly radially of the can to the position indicated in full'lines in FIG. 5 will then depress the plate 10 so as to compress the sealing element 12 tightly over the opening Having fully described my invention and illustrated a preferred embodiment thereof what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A re-usable resealer for placement on the opened top end cap of a pull tab beverage can,-to close an elongated opening, said resealer comprising:

a pressure plate having a central aperture and a somewhat deformable sealing element on the underside thereof;

a spanner bar extending vertically through said aperture and element and engaging said sealing having a crosspiece of a length greater than the width dimension of said opening mounted on the lower end of the spanner bar;

a handle oper'atively mounted on the upper end of said spanner bar to twist said spanner bar and thus to turn said crosspiece transversely of said opening, after insertion of the crosspiece;

said handle further having means to depress said plate toward said crosspiece so as to press said element into sealing position on the end cap of the can.

2, A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said means to depress comprises interacting cam means on said handle and spanner bar.

3. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said handle is pivotally mounted on said spanner bar and said means to depress is a cam on said handle engaging said plate, said cam having a flat thereon releasibly locking the handle in depressed position.

4. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said spanner bar has an enlargement on the end thereof remote from said crossbar, and said handle has a slotted box-like enclosure for snug reception of said enlargement, whereby the handle can be slid onto the enlargement to facilitate initial assembly of the resealer, the sides of said box-like enclosure engaging said pressure plate to depress the same when the handle is depressed I 5. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said plate has 21 depending peripheral skirt flange and said sealing element is a pad fitted inside said skirt flange.

6. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said spanner bar, crossbar and handle are rotatable so said handle can be depressed radially outwardly of the can top for maximum accessibility or depressed radially inwardly of the can top for minimal space conservation. 

1. A re-usable resealer for placement on the opened top end cap of a pull tab beverage can, to close an elongated opening, said resealer comprising: a pressure plate having a central aperture and a somewhat deformable sealing element on the underside thereof; a spanner bar extending vertically through said aperture and element and engaging said sealing having a crosspiece of a length greater than the width dimension of said opening mounted on the lower end of the spanner bar; a handle operatively mounted on the upper end of said spanner bar to twist said spanner bar and thus to turn said crosspiece transversely of said opening, after insertion of the crosspiece; said handle further having means to depress said plate toward said crosspiece so as to press said element into sealing position on the end cap of the can.
 2. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said means to depress comprises interacting cam means on said handle and spanner bar.
 3. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said handle is pivotally mounted on said spanner bar and said means to depress is a cam on said handle engaging said plate, said cam having a flat thereon releasibly locking the handle in depressed position.
 4. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said spanner bar has an enlargement on the end thereof remote from said crossbar, and said handle has a slotted box-like enclosure for snug reception of said enlargement, whereby the handle can be slid onto the enlargement to facilitate initial assembly of the resealer, the sides of said box-like enclosure engaging said pressure plate to depress the same when the handle is depressed.
 5. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said plate has a depending peripheral skirt flange and said sealing element is a pad fitted inside said skirt flange.
 6. A resealer according to claim 1 wherein said spanner bar, crossbar and handle are rotatable so said handle can be depressed radially outwardly of the can top for maximum accessibility or depressed radially inwardly of the can top for minimal space conservation. 